27-June-1998

1.30 AM

Hermione was curled up next to Ron as he lazily ran his fingers down her naked back.

"What time do your parents want us to come over?"

"Around noon."

"Should we… uh… bring anything?"

"Your mum said she's bringing biscuits."

"Right."

"There's no need for you to be nervous, Ron. Our parents have been friends for years. They like you. And my father apologized."

"Well, yeah, but it's different."

"How?"

Ron glanced down to their intertwined bodies devoid of any clothing.

"Your parents liked me as your friend but now I'm the bloke who deflowered their only daughter."

Hermione laughed. "They don't know that part."

"And where, may I ask, do they think you are now?"

"Asleep in my own bed."

Ron cocked an eyebrow at her. "Did you sneak out for a shag?"

She slapped his bare chest. "Would you rather I told them? I'm sure my father would love that, he'd finally have a good use for his pistol."

"What's a pistol?"

"Umm, it is the Muggle version of Avada Kedavra."

"What!?" Ron looked at her with wide eyes. "And your father has one of these pistol things?"

Hermione laughed again and they laid in silence for a while.

"I'm scared," Ron whispered in to the darkness. This statement shocked her to the core, Ron wasn't one to willingly talk about his feelings let along his fears. Hermione propped herself up on her elbow and gazed in to Ron's blue eyes filled with uncertainty.

"Of what?"

"Everything. I thought once the war was over everything would be fine but it's not. Harry's a mess, he's trying to hide it but he is. Ginny feels useless 'cause she can't help him. Mum's wearing herself out trying to help Andromeda with Teddy. The ministry's a mess, Dad and Kinsley are doing their best but it's been filled with corruption for so long… what if we can't come back from this?"

"Everything's going to be OK," she tried to reassure. "It's like this now but it'll get better. They'll get the ministry cleaned up, a lot of people showed their true colours. Kingsley knows who to go after. We'll rebuild and move on. We have our whole future in front of us."

Ron only looked more unsure. "I don't know about that. We didn't finish school, Hermione. We don't have our NEWT's, I don't know who would want to give me a job, and I don't know if I could go back to Hogwarts. Not after this past year. There's nothing there for me anymore."

"I'll be there."

"You will?"

"Of course I'm going back."

Ron laced their fingers together and brought their intertwined hands to lie over his heart. "I mean for me. You'll be there… always? With me?"

Her eyes filled with tears, he was talking about much more than Hogwarts.

"Yes."

"No matter what?"

"Nothing could take me away from you."

"And you'll marry me? Not tomorrow but someday?"

"Of course." She sobbed and rested her forehead agents his. "I love you." She whispered before placing a soft kiss on his lips.

"I don't know what the future is gonna be like Hermione, but the only thing I see clearly is you."

"Why are we doing this again?" Hermione asked her father yawning. It was half past seven in the morning. She had just snuck back in when her mother came to her door and sent her and her father to the market to pick up some last minute things. Her parents had invited the entire Weasley clan plus Harry and minus a Charlie, who had gone back to Romania the night before, over for lunch and Hermione still didn't completely understand why.

"We thought it would be nice."

"It is, but you and Mum aren't the big lunch in types."

"I know but…"

"But?"

"The Weasleys were kind enough to combine their son's welcome home dinner with our return. They're lovely people and after the way we acted- after learning what had really happened … Well, we just want to make sure everything is fine between our two families before we have to come face to face at the ball."

So that's what this whole thing was about. Hermione grabbed her fathers arm stopping him in the middle of the aisle. All of a sudden lunch didn't seem like a good idea.

"Dad, they don't know about that."

"They don't?"

"No."

"But Ron…"

"Knew you would come around so he didn't say anything to them."

Her father blinked a few times and shook his head. The shouting matches that happened in their house, one even including Ron himself, had been so horrible her father seemed shocked that the Weasleys had no idea they had even occurred.

"Why wouldn't he say anything? I thought the Weasley's were close."

"They are. Ron just didn't want his family thinking the worst of you and Mum."

Her father seemed more shocked about this then anything else.

"Well," he said taking a long look at his now grown daughter before looking past her at nothing. They stood there in silence as a sad smile slowly mad its way on to her fathers face. "We won't mention it," he said shaking him from what ever thoughts were occupying his mind.

"Should we get a cake from the bakery?"

"Mum said she would make one."

"Right, Right," he said looking at the list. "I see."

They walked up and down the aisles grabbing the items off the list, Her father asking question's about the twin's shop what the rest of the family did gathering a list of topic to talk about. Her father seemed to be making a bigger effort to know more about the Weasleys than usual and Hermione had to smile at that.

"There's that Bellatrix."

Hermione's head spun as she dropped the sack of flour she was holding flattening herself against the shelf. No, NO! Bellatrix was dead. She could not be here. She closed her eyes tight and began to shake head to toe. Her mind was screaming for her to grab her father and run but she was frozen in terror.

"Hermione, Hermione!"

"NO!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Hermione, are you OK?" She opened her eyes and looked in to her father's worried face as he shook her back to reality. Looking around at nearly empty muggle market she slowly came to the realization that yes, Bellatrix Lestrange was dead and would not be shopping in a Muggle market even if she wasn't.

"I'm fine, I'm fine… There- there was a spider on the flour."

Her father pulled a face. "And to think this is supposed to be one of the cleaner markets."

"Yes." Hermione said shaking her self and pushing away from the shelf.

"There's the vanilla sticks." John Granger repeated pointing at the bundle of what looked like long black twigs.

Hermione took a shaky breath.

"Beans dad, vanilla beans."

"They look more like sticks to me."

"Call them Vanilla beans." She said adding a desperate ' please' in her head.

"Don't mention anything about our fights with the Weasleys."

Hermione stopped short of entering the kitchen upon hearing the name Weasley. Positioning herself just out of sight she allowed herself to eavesdrop on her parents' whispered conversation.

"But this was supposed to be an apology," her mother was saying.

"I know, but Ron hasn't told them about our argument."

"Honestly?"

Her father nodded. "He didn't want them thinking bad of us."

"After everything you said?"

"Seems Hermione isn't the only Granger he's been protecting."

"That makes me feel horrible."

"Yeah, he's a good bloke," her father said in a tone of reluctant acceptance

"One our daughter's in love with."

"And I'm sure he's just as in love with her. That makes me feel horrible."

"You told Hermione you liked him."

"I do! Even more so now, that's the problem. I'm not supposed to respect the boy shagging my daughter." He said shaking his head. "Why did she have to pick a boyfriend I can't hate?"

Hermione's face turned bright red at her father's correct assumption. Just last night she was assuring Ron that they didn't know that bit about their relationship.

"Maybe you'll hate her next boyfriend." Her mother said laughing.

"You think they'll break up."

"They're young."

Hermione felt tears sting her eyes. Her parents still didn't believe her relationship with Ron would last. The kitchen fell silent and Hermione began to slowly walk towards the stairs.

"I hope they don't," she heard her father say and she turned back to the kitchen.

"Neither do I. They way he is with her and what he did to protect our reputation… that boy's…"

"A man," her father said simply.

"One who's going to be in Hermione's life for a very long time."

Hermione was staring at the dining table wondering how they would seat thirteen in a table meant for six when the door bell rang.

"Hello, Ron," her mother's voice floated in to the room. "You're a bit early."

"I came by to see if you needed any help."

"Hmmm, come check to see if I've made enough food."

Hermione smiled but made no move to greet Ron. Her mother was a gracious host, no matter how overwhelmed she might be she would never let a guest help out, the fact that she was allowing Ron to meant she didn't see him as a guest, but a part of their unit. There was no way she would interrupt a possible bonding moment between her mother and Ron. So she continued to stare at the table.

"Why don't you enlarge it?"

Hermione turned to see Ron looking at her from the door way with a stack of plates.

"Hello," she smiled at him.

"Hey," Ron said placing the plates on the table and wrapping his arms around her waits from behind.

"I can't enlarge it."

"Sure you can."

"No I mean I can't." She nodded to where two halves of a broken wand lay.

"What happened to your wand!" Ron said a bit panicked walking over and picking it up.

"I snapped it."

"You what! Why would you do a thing like that?"

"I didn't want it."

"How cou… why…You didn't want your wand!"

"That's not my wand."

Ron looked at her like she had gone completely round the bend.

"It's hers"

"Who's?"

"Hers… Bellatrix Lestrange's. The snatchers took my wand."

Ron looked at the wand with disgust before snapping the two halves in half, throwing them in to the fire place and lighting it. Walking over he pull Hermione into his arms they watch the wand burn. The wand that had taken Neville's parents from him, the wand that had taken Sirius from Harry.

"We'll write to Ollivander tomorrow. He owes us a favor," Ron said placing a small kiss on her temple before pulling out his own and handing it to her. She looked it over for a long moment before waking over to the fire place and throwing it in to burn alongside Bellatrix's

"Are you mental!" Ron ran to the hearth and knelt down trying to find a way to get his wand before it brunt to sinters without himself getting burnt.

"That's not your wand."

"Of course it's my wand!"

"The snatchers took your wand," she said in a distant voice staring at the burning wands as if the mere intensity of her gaze would help speed along their destruction. She wished it could, those wands and their owners had done nothing but destroy the lives of people she cared about. Had killed people she cared about had…

An involuntary shudder wracked her body as she remember one of them being pointed at her, the color of the light shooting out and hitting her, then pain. Pain she sometimes felt the echoes of late at night when all was quiet and the memory of Malfoy manor would creep in. Then the nightmares would come. Her mind would change the events of that night. She would be given to Greyback, who would rape and kill her. Or Bellatrix would just slit her throat ending her suffering. Sometimes they would all die. A few times Ron had turned in to Peter Pettigrew. Bellatrix laughed as she told them they had captured Ron the night he left them on the hunt and it had been Wormtail in their mist all along. She brought his bloody and beaten body out. Talked about how he refused to give any information and slowly killed Ron in front of her as she watched, telling her not to make the same mistake. His last words in those nightmares were always "I love you."

"Hermione?" she heard Ron say a bit warily effectively snapping her out of her trance.

"Yes?" She was unable to look at him with the image of him beaten and broken still fresh in her mind. She knew if she looked at him she wouldn't see the swollen eyes or the gashes or bruises, but just the thought that it could have happened that was enough to keep her eyes focused on the stack of plats on the table.

Ron stood up and walked over to her, placing his palm on her cheek and moving her head to look at him. Just his touch could drain all the darkness from her mind, and Hermione became increasingly grateful for his presence. And not just now, being in his arms, the world was bright and warm. When she wasn't with him it was cold and dark.

Hermione nuzzled her cheek deeper in to his palm and sighed contently. Ron featured quickly turned in to one of panic making Hermione turn checking to see if there was anyone one behind her."

"Please tell me you have floo powder," he said and Hermione relaxed.

"We're not connected to the floo network, Ron."

"How am I going to get home!"

"Your family's coming in a few hours, they can take you home. We'll both get a new wand soon."

"I was fine with that one."

"You shouldn't be."

"Well I was."

"That wand is evil."

"A wand can't be evil!"

"Yes it can!"

Ron looked like he wanted to retort but instead said, "I don't want to fight. Can we just… how are we going to expand the table?"

"Damn, I didn't think of that."

"Since when do you not think?"

"Shut up!"

"Oh you should have seen his face," Fred said laughing from across the table Bill had magically enlarged and set. "Screamed like a girl, he did."

"I was two!"

"It was priceless!"

"Sometimes I regret not giving Hermione a sibling or two," Mrs. Granger said. "It would have prepared her for the summers at the Burrow. She was so overwhelmed at first.

"It's not too late." Fred said. "We'll sell you Percy, an instant big brother for Hermione."

"We'll even throw Ronnie in for a small fee," George added.

"There're two of you," Ron said, and then looked at the Grangers. "We only need one, really. I'll give you Fred free of charge, he's not house trained though."

It went on like that for a half an hour each Weasley sibling auctioning off another causing much laughter. In the end they all agreed on Charlie who wasn't there to give a counter offer.

"John," Mrs. Granger stood and began to clear plates. "Would you help with the pudding?"

"Would you like my help?" Mrs. Weasley offered.

"No, no, Molly; its fine. John'll help me."

When the Grangers exited the room Ron grabbed Hermione's hand from under the table, leaned in and whispered, "This is going well."

"I told you you had nothing to worry about."

"I should start listening to you."

"You should have started years ago."

They stared at each other for a long moment before Ron lifted there intertwined hands and kissed Hermione's. "I love you." He said softly.

"I love you too."

"I love you, George."

"I love you, Fred."

The twins hugged dramatically swaying in their seats pounding each other on the back. "I love you so much!" they declared in mock sobs.

"Alright boys, that's enough," Mr. Weasley said trying not to laugh along with the rest of the table.

Ron and Hermione were both glowing crimson. At some point unaware to either of them Hermione's parents had entered and by the way their parents were beaming at each other Hermione knew everything between the Grangers and Weasleys was just fine.